I performed my first 11th month warranty inspection today! Townhome built in 2022.
One of the combo GFCI/AFCI breakers was double tapped and double lugged. I realize some Square D breakers allow a double tap but I looked up the breaker specs and it doesn’t show that it is allowed. The image on the side of the breaker shows one branch circuit only.
I will be writing this up as a fire/safety hazard in my report. Being that this is a new build, I still find it hard to believe that there is a hazardous electrical issue like this on a new build and want to make sure that I’m not missing anything and would love some confirmation that my observation is correct.
Is my observation correct? Or, does the notation on the side of the breaker mean that two conductors are allowed, ie. (2, 5-6mm)?
Since there are no available extra breaker spots on the panel, I don’t see how the builder (electrician-sub) could easily correct the double tap without adding an extra breaker but wouldn’t that require a panel upgrade since there are no available slots? I’m probably overthinking this but just want to assist my clients in anyway that I can.
I see where you’re going. The main issue with double tapping is crimping down on two hots that may expand/contract and work loose. But…as long as the two branch circuits are not overloading the individual breaker/circuit, just pigtail one branch to the other with only one conductor under the tap (breaker hot terminal), yeah?
Yes, only one screw. I could not get a close look on-site at the terminal. I know what the typical two conductor terminal looks like but I wasn’t able to determine if this breaker had that type of terminal due to limited access/visibility. The only picture of the terminal I have is screen-shotted from a video and almost made it look like there were two slots, but…the breaker itself did not show that more than one conductor was allowed.
Disregard the wording on the screenshot. I didn’t write that. The terminal almost looks like it has two separate slots for a conductor.
From what you’ve shown and more or less have determined I’d call it out and state the breakers do not appear to be rated for more than one conductor and let an electrician sort it out.
I’m squinting at the photo but I think that it says #8 maximum. What’s strange is that when you look at the conductor properties in the NEC a #10 AWG = 5.261 mm² and #8 AWG = 8.367 mm², so a #10 is actually closer in size to a 6 mm than a #8 is. Maybe it has something to do with standard metric conductor sizes.
